The Story-teller who LOVES Colour Brown and Rings

Dear Shalom, Here are ten things I hope you never forget.  1. Late is man-made, there will always be time for all the good things. Awon Yoruba maa n so pe "omi ti eniyan ba ma mu, koni shun ko ja eni" 2. Change is inevitable, get used to it. 3. Your purpose is bigger than any physical thing, achievement or endorsements, your purpose is spiritual, do not step out of it. Wake up, run, work, eat, sleep, grind, repeat, is endless. Stay with what is eternal.  4. You're beautiful, and it's not that kind of way, that one that seeks to massage egos, it is a radiance that is bigger than what you can control.  Be confident in it. 5. It's OK if you want to leave this and go do something else, you'll come back to it again once you can. My favorite name ever is Shalom, my parents must have had foresight 😊 XOXO

Ohinoyi, that's my name, and I do not want to tell a story about the “resilience of a woman," neither do I want to make a toast to strong women.” rather, I should write about how often I am told to raise my head high and walk tall because "I am a woman," when I only want to be a twenty-six-year-old who wants to eat and get a good sleep. Foremost, I do not think "strong women" or "resilience of a woman" are wrong or unnecessary, I think the rightness or wrongness of such terms would depend on their authors. I only wonder, would I hear such terms if say, I was not a woman, or if things were different for women? The last time I was told to "behave like a woman" was the day I ate in the open while I waited in a bank queue, this was two weeks ago.  I had wanted to arrive early at the bank so I could transact early enough and return to my other tasks. I couldn't have breakfast before leaving my home, so I bought ewa agoyin from a food

Today, I failed 😞.  I mean, I don't want to be salty, but I've had a fair share of failures and bad results, so it's not entirely new to me. But, this experience , e pain me die.  What happened? I am an Ebira and Yoruba Nigerian girl, but for a long time, because of what I was taught as culture and norm, I was never referred to as a Yoruba girl, only Ebira. A language i can't even speak nor understand to save my life. Yoruba people were usually referred to as the local ones, so I was glad when people didn't identify me with the "local ones". I also enjoyed the attention that always comes with people finding out I speak Yoruba language fluently, and I enjoyed the comment about how I didn't have the accent. Like accent is a bad thing.  Here is the thing, gradually and by the day, I realize that people really  don't care about stuff or you or me that much. So, if I am complimented about my "non-Yoruba" accent this minute, it doesn't sto

Happy new year 2021! Life,  they say happens when we are busy making plans for it, and I have personally found that to be true to an extent. For example, the photo collage attached to this post has me, 3 years apart, doing the same thing; traveling by road to Abuja, Nigeria, and wearing braids😎. The first picture was taken in 2018, the beginning of my NYSC, and as I embarked on the Journey, I knew I wanted to be where I was headed, but I was nervous, really nervous. What is going to happen this one year? And the year after? How do I fit in to the Almighty Capital City? What if staying at my Uncle's becomes a total disaster? What's going to happen with my career? A Career that I don't even know what it is that I want. What of my parents? What if something happens to them while I'm away? The second picture was taken a few days go, with better conditions, better anticipation and more responsibility, and with resolve to make the most of time while I can.   Thos